This invention concerns the mounting and use of basins utilised for washing the hair of clients in hairdressing salons.
There are many types of reclining chairs available which are particularly adapted to use in hairdressing salons. They are used in conjunction with washbasins mounted behind them. The chairs recline to allow the client""s hair to be washed and otherwise treated over the basin while minimising entry of water, shampoo and treatment agents onto the face of the client.
A variety of techniques have been employed in attempts to ensure that despite the wide range of sizes of clients, the basin may be correctly and comfortably positioned under the client""s head when their chair is reclined. The most common way of providing some adjustment for the client""s size is to provide a tilting mechanism for the basin, that is to change its angular orientation fore and aft while maintaining the general position of its bottom where its plumbing is connected.
A more complex arrangement is disclosed in International patent application WO95/28859 and this describes a chair incorporating a basin which, in addition to the tilting facility, may also be moved backwards and forwards relative to the seat in order to better accommodate different sized clients. While this is an improvement over the simple tilt adjustment, some clients can still not be made completely comfortable because either the front wings of the basin are pushing down on the client""s shoulders, or the client""s neck is being stretched by their head being pushed upwards by the basin, or the client is not leaning far enough back. In particular it can still be difficult to comfortably accommodate clients with longer or shorter than average torsos or with restricted neck movement.
It has now been found that by means of a single mechanism, such a basin can be moved to positions that accommodate the widely different sizes of clients to a better extent than otherwise provided by existing adjustment systems.
Accordingly, the invention provides apparatus for washing the hair of a person reclining on a chair comprising,
a platform,
a washbasin mounted on the platform having a forward pointing lip to receive the person""s head or neck, and
translation means for moving the washbasin from a higher position closer to the chair to a lower position more remote from the chair.
In another aspect the invention provides a combination of a recliner chair and a washbasin behind the chair, said chair including a seat and a back support movable between an upright position and a reclining position relative to the seat, and said basin mounted to be movable in a single path which is backwards and downwards away from the seat and forwards and upwards towards the seat.
Preferably the basin maintains its orientation as it moves. The orientation may be separately adjustable. The path may be linear or curved but it is preferably a circular arc.
In a particular embodiment the invention provides apparatus for washing the hair of a person reclining on a chair comprising,
a platform,
a tilting mechanism mounted on the platform,
a washbasin shaped with a deep indentation in the front lip creating two wing portions at the front of the washbasin so that the person""s neck may be nested in the indentation, mounted on the tilting mechanism,
a stand,
four struts forming a four bar linkage, each strut being pivotally mounted to the stand at one position and pivotally mounted to the platform at a second position, the four bar linkage being arranged to permit movement of the washbasin from a higher position closer to the chair to a lower position more remote from the chair, and
resilient biasing means for urging the basin to the higher position.
Preferably said path through which the basin moves has a maximum vertical movement in the range of 30 to 80 mm, more preferably 40 to 70 mm, and a maximum horizontal movement in the range of 80 to 300 mm, more preferably 100 to 200 mm.